Let me quickly catch you up on the timeline on this story. The European Parliament wants to draft a proposal to force Google to break the company up into multiple parts because of its alleged anti-trust practices, according to Reuters.
The US thinks this is a bad idea, expressing concern over the idea as reported by CNet. Then the NY Times reports the legislator in the EU pushing this break up, is also legal counsel at the EU law firm with ties to this break up, potentially where they can earn a lot of money pushing this reform.
Andreas Schwab, a German member of the European Parliament, has been making headlines in the last week after drafting a resolution that calls for the breakup of Google.But Mr. Schwab is not just a legislator, he is also “of counsel” at the German law firm CMS Hasche Sigle, which has represented some of the German publishing interests that have been most eager to declaw Google. He earns roughly $15,000 to $75,000 annually from the firm, according to a disclosure filing. The firm’s website lists his expertise as competition policy.
Either way, I don't see Google at this point being forced to be broken into smaller companies.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
